Officials propose punishment for helping illegal immigrants

In what experts said was a first for the Chicago area, two Carpentersville trustees have proposed that the village punish landlords and employers who "aid and abet" illegal immigrants.

The ordinance, expected to be formally introduced at Tuesday's Village Board meeting, also would make English the official language of Carpentersville, a town whose population of 37,000 is almost half Hispanic.

Trustees Paul Humpfer and Judy Sigwalt said the village has been plagued with overcrowded apartments and unpaid ambulance bills, problems they attributed to people who have entered the country illegally.

Their measure would deny business permits and village contracts to any employer who hired undocumented workers. It also would fine landlords $1,000 for knowingly renting property to illegal immigrants.

"If I sit back and continue to ignore this issue [and] it's hit us in the face and the pocketbook, costing millions and millions of dollars, then I don't deserve to sit in this seat," Sigwalt said Wednesday at a special meeting of Carpentersville's Audit and Finance Commission.

The ordinance would need four votes to pass. Trustee Kay Teeter said she would probably support it, while Trustee Linda Ramirez Sliwinski and Village President Bill Sarto firmly opposed the idea.

"I object to the fact that this singles out illegal aliens," Sarto said. "There are no statistics on who is a deadbeat on ambulance service. You cannot say one particular group is the cause of problems."

Trustee Ed Ritter said he was undecided, while Trustee James Frost could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Immigration expert Sylvia Puente said Illinois has generally welcomed people from other countries regardless of whether they came legally. Chicago has famously declared itself a sanctuary for the undocumented, saying it is not the role of local authorities to enforce immigration laws.

In recent years, though, many newly arrived immigrants have settled in Chicago's suburbs, and that has created tension. Towns like Elgin, Cicero and Waukegan have gotten in legal trouble for allegedly discriminating against Hispanics through restrictive housing codes.

But Rob Paral, research fellow with the American Immigration Law Foundation, said that until now, suburban public officials have not explicitly targeted the undocumented.